Page:The Breath of Scandal (1922).djvu/244

 Saltro commented admiringly, as he watched the little man direct a much larger employe remove a certain too inebriated couple from the floor. Mr. Saltro and Marjorie did not stop toddling; no one stopped for such an occurrence, but merely turned, as they toddled, to keep a view so as not to miss any really interesting developments. "You got to hip-pack your own irrigation here; he won't take no chance selling it. And look at the dancing, too; ever seen decenter than that? He seen from the start the extreme shimmie wouldn't keep on drawing the best people; and he cut out too much cheek-to-cheek stuff, too. Nice looking bunch, what'd you think?" And he renewed his clasp about Marjorie which had relaxed somewhat while he talked, and he moved his hand slightly on her back while they danced.

Her back was bare, since she was wearing that dress her mother had bought for her; she had over her shoulders the scarf which her father, on that night so long ago, had insisted upon her using; but Mr. Saltro lacked the care for its proper placement which had distinguished Billy. Other men at the Lovells' dance, and Gregg had been among them, also had lacked Billy's meticulousness for her; it was nothing new for Marjorie, when dancing, to have a man's bare hand below her bare shoulders; but there was something very definite—and something rather stupendous in its revelation—about the clasp of Mr. Saltro on her flesh.

To be fair with him, it was not individual to Jake Saltro; Sam Troufrie held her, not in the same way quite, but with the same sensation; other men—Clara's friends—held her so, with one exception. It was more amazing to Marjorie Hale, when she glanced about